CV History: The McKinneys, Palm Springs Pioneers, Made a Mark in Farming, Education and More

It was neither land speculation nor respiratory ailments that brought the McKinney family to Palm Springs; it was a specific job, and the prospect of more work, that attracted Oliver S. McKinney and his wife, Rose McEuen McKinney. The family made a home here and helped establish Palm Springs, with four generations of the family making a mark on the town.

It all started when Oliver was hired by Raymond Cree, then the Riverside County superintendent of schools, to dig a water well on his date ranch in Palm Springs. The McKinneys dropped what they were doing—trying to establish a ranch on their Morongo Valley homestead north of Palm Springs—and relocated to the village.

Rose and Oliver McKinney arrived in Palm Springs in February 1916 with, according to Frank Bogert in Palm Springs First Hundred Years, “five children, a chicken coop, two tents and a Dutch oven for cooking.”

The McKinneys were well-suited for the challenge. Rose—the family matriarch who was born near Independence, Mo., on Feb. 13, 1885—came to California in a covered wagon. Oliver was born in 1877 and had served in the Spanish-American War as an aide to Teddy Roosevelt. Oliver and Rose settled in San Jacinto, Calif., and were living in a miner’s cabin in the Gavilan Hills south of Riverside, where their first child, Marshall Glenn, was born in 1904. The family then established the Morongo Valley homestead; by this time, Oliver had earned a reputation as a competent well-driller.

Once in Palm Springs, Oliver found constant work—and never looked back. He dug more wells, and then found his services in demand for planting large palms, cacti and other desert trees and plants for the growing number of estates and hotel resort properties.

That work led to the Desert Nursery, which the family owned and operated from 1925 to 1945. They had bought 10 acres in the 600 block of South Palm Canyon Drive, near the intersection of Indian Canyon Drive, in 1924, and originally opened a small campground. They developed it into a tourist court and mobile-home trailer park. Along with the Desert Nursery, the McKinneys built 20 small rental units. They also acquired an 80-acre farm in what is now the Deepwell neighborhood of Palm Springs.

The McKinneys had three more children in Palm Springs, establishing a couple of “firsts” along the way. Their son Ted, who was born Jan. 11, 1919, was reportedly the first non-Indigenous child born in Palm Springs. Daughter Barbara McKinney Moore was the first non-Indigenous girl, born shortly before two granddaughters of Nellie Coffman, owner of The Desert Inn.

The McKinney children attended the local one-room school, immediately doubling the student population from four to eight students. It was said by many a pioneer that almost all of the early Palm Springs children at one time or another were classmates of a McKinney.

The McKinney sons were Marshall Glenn, Willard A., Eldon, Ted and Don McKinney. Daughters were Arol Campbell, Thiel Eastabrook and Barbara Moore.

Later, as adults, the five sons got together and re-established the family’s Morongo Valley Ranch and ran cattle under the appropriate “5M” brand. Willard owned and operated McKinney’s Market on South Palm Canyon Drive. He also owned the W.A. McKinney Construction Company.

Marshall Glenn, the oldest child, owned a Palm Springs blacksmith shop before leasing it out, earning his credentials and teaching for 31 years. The former Eagle Scout also established a winery in Napa Valley. He became a Palm Springs historian, publishing his memoirs in 1996, titled Vanishing Footprints in the Hot Desert Sand: Remembrances of a 90-Year-Old Palm Springs Pioneer—Horse and Wagon Days on the Southern California Desert. He died in 2002 at the age of 98.

Ted, who was born in the family trailer park, graduated from the University of Redlands in 1946 and served as a pilot in the Army Air Corps. He joined the family business and was a Palm Springs real estate agent for 25 years. He served on the Palm Springs City Council for 12 years and was chairman of the Indian Planning Committee. He served on the board of the Palm Springs Historical Society, was the first president of the Jaycees, president of Los Comprades, and a member of the Palm Springs Air Museum. He died in 1995 at the age of 76. Eldon, born in 1909, died in 1967. Donald, born in 1928, died in 1981. Arol, an accomplished rider, managed a stable and later moved to a ranch in Ramona.

Thiel McKinney Eastabrook was a hair stylist who practiced into her late 90s at her small shop in Morongo Valley. Born in April 1908, she died from a fall and a broken arm in November 2008, six months after her 100th birthday. Barbara McKinney Moore continued to own and operate a car wash on the family’s original land at 645 S. Palm Canyon Drive. She called it the Desert 100 Percent Hand Carwash and Nursery, alluding to the family’s original business. She sold the car wash in 1998, and it is still in operation—no more “nursery” in the name, though. Barbara died in December 2001.

Family matriarch Rose, who gave birth to and raised eight children in difficult conditions, found time to serve her community. She was a founder and board member of the Palm Springs Historical Society, a member of the Soroptimists and member of the Eastern Star.

The famous cat swindle

There’s an interesting story from the 1930s about Rose and the famous actor John Barrymore. In the actor’s bio, he references Rose in an unflattering manner: In Palm Springs, Barrymore “was swindled out of $75.00 for a mangy cat by a hag in a roadside stand.”

The truth, according to daughter Barbara, was that an unruly, drunken Barrymore, who had trouble standing up, saw the cat and demanded to have it. Rose told him it was not for sale. Barrymore insisted; Rose again said it was not for sale. Finally, to end the matter, she quoted the ridiculous amount of $75. To her surprise, he whipped out the money.

Oliver died in 1956, and Rose McKinney died on May 30, 1968.

Sources for this article include Nellie’s Boardinghouse by Marjorie Belle Bright (ETC Publications, Palm Springs, 1981); and Palm Springs: First 100 Years by Mayor Frank M. Bogert (Palm Springs Heritage Associates, 1987).